Kit Harington and Peter Dinklage - Actors On Actors
Kit Harington: I worked with Sophie again, I don't know if you know.
Peter Dinklage: Yeah, I heard. How was that?
Kit Harington: It was weird.
Peter Dinklage: I've heard you, like, a love scene with Sophie.
Kit Harington: Yeah, she sent me the script and was like, do you want to do this? And I read it. And I was like, Sophie, there's a lot of, like, us getting it on. And she, like, hadn't seen that. She just said, yeah, Kit would be good for this part.
Peter Dinklage: She hadn't read the script. Typical actress, she hadn't read the script.
Kit Harington: But for me, obviously, I've known her since being a child. So I'm like, she feels like my younger sister.
Peter Dinklage: She is.
Kit Harington: I'm like, this is weird.
Peter Dinklage: Oh, no. Oh, my God.
Kit Harington: We did it and it was it was gross, but it was fine.
Peter Dinklage: It was gross, but it was fine.
Kit Harington: It was gross. Yeah, that's how I summed that up. It was gross, but it was fine. She's an amazing actor.
Peter Dinklage: She is.
Kit Harington: I know we all know that. But, like, she was a child when she came out.
Peter Dinklage: I know.
Kit Harington: She is phenomenal.
Peter Dinklage: Maybe I just say this because we had so much stuff together, the Tyrion Sansa stuff. I sort of would look around the room going, this is like the greatest actress.
Kit Harington: Yeah.
Peter Dinklage: I think on this fucking show.
Kit Harington: Yeah.
Peter Dinklage: Because what she was giving me was so still. And she was always so prepared. She knew everything. Like, she was she was so fun to play across. She was so there.
Kit Harington: Yeah.
Peter Dinklage: But I use that word still because the camera's on you. You don't have to do anything for the camera's attention. Camera's on you. You don't have to move. You know, it's just and she just had that sort of and that's a difficult part.
Kit Harington: Yeah.
Peter Dinklage: It's a hard part.
Kit Harington: Yeah.
Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.
At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.
At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.
“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.
The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.
I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.
I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.
I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht.
i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.
i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.
as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.
disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.
at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.
i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.
i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.
I don't read as much fic as I used to but one "tell" for non Canadians writing us, besides the etransfer, is the units you use to describe us measuring something. I hate to tell you this but The Chart is real and it's completely subconscious. Please abide
Wait please elaborate on the off campus Jonsa au post
hi sry for the late response!!! i was kinda busy last week but im free now!
i read The Deal years ago, and at the time i actually didn't find that many similarities between Garrett/Hannah and jonsa. i mean sure, Garrett has those stromy gray eyes and Hannah is very good at singing just like Sansa, but book-Garrett is a little too aggressive for my taste. however, the tv series adaptation really deepened their characters (at least imo).
show-Garrett is more mature and respectful, which is exactly how i imagine Jon. they also deepened hannah's storyline, changing the whole dynamic from "two broken people fixing each other" to "fixing ourselves first, then loving each other"—which is what i like the most.
i can totally see Sansa as Hannah: a girl who has been through so much, but still gets up, keeps going, and tries to find beauty in a world that was once so cruel to her. they are both strong and independent women who won't be broken down by life's hardships, and most importantly, they see the world as it is and love it still.
narratively speaking, i can easily see Joffrey as that mayor's kid who did terrible shit to Hannah/Sansa. and of course, his family would cover it all up, making the stark family lose both their money and reputation. (in the book, the offender's mom is the mayor of hannah's hometown, and she's the one who brings total destruction upon Hannah's family—and we all know Cersei would do the exact same thing without batting an eye.)
Garrett always feels like there's this same kind of anger and destrudo flooding his veins that he has to rein in all the time, and his biggest fear is becoming as violent as his father. the show really intensifies this fear; it almost feels like a curse passed through blood during that staircase fighting scene. Phil Graham is also a whole lot better at disguising his true colors than he was in the book, which makes him lean way more into rhaegar's character imo. i can easily see Jon as Garrett: a boy raised by Rhaegar, who witnessed and was a victim of the Targaryen madness, refusing to become his father.
also, Phil wants Garrett to follow in his footsteps, wanting to live through Garrett's body, which kinda reminds me of how rhaegar was obsessed with the prophecy—the exact actions are different, but i think the underlying core is the same.
anyway, these are my thoughts on this topic!! shout out to this post for pointing out the similarity in the fighting scene too. i know there are technical rules for cinematography and framing, but the shots are literally identical!!! 😭😭😭😭
easy to forget but book jon snow is great actually. he gets so drunk he cries in his first chapter. he's 16 years old and laser focused on loan negotiation. he keeps getting promoted against his will. he's the chosen fantasy protagonist with the worst genre awareness ever. he implements pro immigration social reforms. he has a giant albino pet wolf. he cuts a guy's head off. he thinks he invented cunnilingus. he's been dead for 15 years.
Sansa was confused. “I don't understand,” she said. “Where is Jeyne's father ? Why can't Ser Boros take her to him instead of Lord Petyr having to do it ?” She had promised herself she would be a lady, gentle as the queen and as strong as her mother, the Lady Catelyn, but all of a sudden she was scared again. For a second she thought she might cry. “Where are you sending her ? She hasn't done anything wrong, she's a good girl”
“She's upset you,” the queen said gently. “We can't be having that. Not another word, now. Lord Baelish will see that Jeyne's well taken care of, I promise you”
Sansa seated herself beside the queen. Cersei smiled again, but that did not make her feel any less anxious [... ] she could feel Littlefinger staring. Something about the way the small man looked at her made Sansa feel as though she had no clothes on. Goose bumps pimpled her skin
Sansa IV — A Game of Thrones
“I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.”
Arya VIII — A Storm of Swords
The device painted on the shield was one Sansa did not know ; a grey stone head with fiery eyes, upon a light green field. “My grandfather's shield,” Petyr explained when he saw her gazing at it. “His own father was born in Braavos and came to the Vale as a sellsword in the hire of Lord Corbray, so my grandfather took the head of the Titan as his sigil when he was knighted”
“It's very fierce,” said Sansa
Sansa VI — A Storm of Swords
A mad rage seized hold of her. She picked up a broken branch and smashed the torn doll's head down on top of it, then pushed it down atop the shattered gatehouse of her snow castle. The servants looked aghast, but when Littlefinger saw what she'd done he laughed. “If the tales be true, that's not the first giant to end up with his head on Winterfell's walls”
“Those are only stories,” she said, and left him there
Sansa VII — A Storm of Swords
Giuditta che decapita Oloferne by Artemisia Gentileschi
** Including Dunk and Brienne, Baelor, and Tanselle.
✧ This theory, originating in the 2010s, is based on the parallel similarity between the final champions we see at Ashford and Sansa Stark’s suitors in ASOIAF: so far, each of Lady Ashford’s champions has had a matching suitor in Sansa’s story, besides the last, the Targaryen.
✧ Setting:
Lady Ashford is a 13-year old maid, in honour of whom the Tourney at Ashford is hosted.
"The Tourney at Ashford Meadow was a tourney event hosted for Lady Ashford's 13th birthday. Five champions wearing her favour would defend her."
The five defending champions with which we end our narration of the tourney happen to exactly match the suitors of the 13-year old Sansa Stark, as she prepares the Tourney of Winged Knights.
**Note : Officially, there is no order to the champions, as the jousts happen in overlap / simultaneously, and the only in-text appearance is Day 1, told by Duncan.
Only the Hardyng pavillion is referred to as the fourth, and the Targaryen as the last. The Targaryen's victories also are said as the last.
✧ The champion - suitor connection, broken down:
LYONEL BARATHEON / JOFFREY BARATHEON
The name "Lyonel" means "lion", making him, literally, a "Lion Baratheon" [disc. GRRM is more than likely aware of this, and even has Lyonel as part of the 'lion' trio with Leo and Leona]
Joffrey, who is a Lannister bastard in truth, is also literally a "Lion Baratheon"
Along with Lannister, Lyonel challenges Lady Ashford's family, and defeats Lady Ashford's older brother Robert.
Along with the Lannisters, Joffrey challenges Sansa Stark's family, wages war on and defeats Sansa's older brother Robb.
"The younger Ashford lasted even longer, breaking no less than nine lances against Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the Laughing Storm."
"Finally a battered Ser Robert Ashford admutted defeat"
— The Hedge Knight
Lyonel falsely declares himself "King" in opposition to the true claimant, but the title doesn't last
Joffrey is falsely declared "King" in opposition to the true claimant, but it doesn't last
"The crowned stag was for Ser Lyonel Baratheon." - The Hedge Knight
"He was carrying the royal standard, Joffrey's great stag-and-lion" — Tyrion V, ASOS
"So great was the wroth of the Laughing Storm that he swore a bloody oath of vengeance, renounced allegiance to the Iron Throne, and had himself crowned as a new Storm King." — TWOIAF
"Joffrey waited atop the Iron Throne. [...] Ned Stark slowly limped and hopped toward the boy who called himself king."
— Eddard XIV, AGOT
LEO TYRELL / WILLAS TYRELL
Leo Tyrell is a well-liked, honourable and respected jouster, known as "Longthorn", the Lord of Highgarden.
Willas Tyrell is described as respected, polite and good-hearted, the next Lord of Highgarden
Leo is notably rumoured to have health issues after the tourney
Willas is crippled in a tourney, which is said to have happened because his father wanted Willas to become Leo Longhorn
"..the most notable is Lord Leo Tyrell, a tourney champion remembered to this day as Leo Longthorn." — TWOIAF
"They drank to the health of Leo Longhorn, Lord of Highgarden, who was rumoured to be ailing." — The Mystery Knight
"Willas Tyrell was green as his surcoat and had no business riding in such company. The Fat Flower thrust him into tourneys at too tender an age, just as he did with the other two. He wanted another Leo Longthorn, and made himself a cripple." — Tyrion V, ASOS
Willas is directly referred to by Sansa as her "champion"
"But comely or no, he might be the only champion she would ever have." — Sansa II, ASOS
[ Also, on the Loras inclusion, since he is mentioned in relation to Sansa believing her betrothal is to him, also compared to the same Leo Tyrell, and brought up within the same paragraph ]
"She could never hold a picture of Willas long in her head, though; her imaginings kept turning him back into Ser Loras, young and graceful and beautiful."
"Willas, Willas, Willas.” Willas was as good a name as Loras, she supposed. They even sounded the same, a little." — Sansa II, ASOS
"There are those who say Ser Loras is better than Leo Longthorn ever was,” said Tyrion." — Tyrion V, ASOS
TYBOLT LANNISTER / TYRION LANNISTER
Tybolt is named for King Tybolt, who was the first to defeat the Andal army in the westerlands.
Tyrion's namesake is King Tyrion, who was the next to meet the Andal army, Tybolt's successor. In text, he is mentioned specifically in tandem with King Tybolt.
"The first Andal warlord to march an army through the hills met a bloody end at the hands of King Tybolt Lannister [...] but as more and more Andals began moving west in bands large and small, King Tyrion III and his son Gerold II saw their doom ahead." — TWOIAF
Tybolt [as well as the Baratheon] challenges and defeats Lady Ashford's older brother
Tyrion / the Lannisters challenge and defeat Sansa's older brother
"The Grey Lion of Casterly Rock struck the shield of Lord Tyrell, while his golden-haired heir Ser Tybolt Lannister challenged Lord Ashford’s eldest son."
"Tybolt Lannister and Androw Ashford rode against each other thrice more before Ser Androw finally lost shield, seat, and match all at once." — The Hedge Knight
“And when do you imagine Sansa will be at her most fertile?” Tyrion asked his father in tones that dripped acid. “Before or after I tell her how we murdered her mother and her brother?” — Tyrion VI, ASOS
HUMFREY HARDYNG / HARRY HARDYNG
Important note: Hardyng is an extremely minor branch house. Humfrey and Harry are actually the ONLY two members ever appearing in the ASOIAF/AKOTSK text.
Humfrey is seriously wounded in the Ashford tourney, after his horse falls and crushes him. He later dies from his wounds in the Trial.
Curiously, Sansa, upon meeting Harry, wishes for his horse to stumble and cause them to fall in the tourney, too.
"Screaming, the horse crashed sideways, knocking the wooden barrier to pieces as he fell. Ser Humfrey tried to leap free, but a foot caught in a stirrup and they heard his shriek as his leg was crushed between the splintered fence and falling horse."
— The Hedge Knight
"[...] so we can begin the tourney on the morrow.” And may your horse stumble, Harry the Heir, so you fall on your stupid head in your first tilt." — Alayne I, TWOW
Humfrey is said to have "overthrown" the lords of Arryn and Royce, as well as won against the Tully challenger.
Harry is being used by LF as the successor to the Vale seat, in opposition to Arryn (Robert, half-Tully) and the Royces.
"The fourth pavilion was sewn together from diamond-shaped pieces of cloth, alternating red and white. Dunk did not know the colors, but Egg said they belonged to a knight from the Vale of Arryn named Ser Humfrey Hardyng. “He won a great melee at Maidenpool last year, ser, and overthrew Ser Donnel of Duskendale and the Lords Arryn and Royce in the lists.”
"By then Ser Humfrey had beaten Lord Tully into surrender, showing himself as skilled with a sword as he was with a lance."
— The Hedge Knight
VALARR TARGARYEN / ?
Note: The only, last, champion, who doesn't yet have a matching suitor in Sansa's arc, is the Targaryen. There is widespread speculation on this, but the parallels presented below, apply to JON SNOW and the surrounding characters.
Valarr is dubbed "The black prince with the white guardian", referred to as the "black knight" due to his black attire, and following guard
Jon is known for his black attire, as part of the "black knights" of the Wall & has a white direwolf that is said to be a "a guardian".
"And the black-and-white knight, Lord Gawen Swann, challenged the black prince with the white guardian." — The Hedge Knight
“There was a wolf for Jon as well. I found them, remember? I know how many there were and where they came from. I used to think the same as you, that the wolves were our guardians. . ."
— Catelyn II, ASOS
"The Young Prince's horse was black as night, to match the color of his armor.."
"A black stallion emerged from out of the river mists, a black knight on his back. Dunk saw the dragon shield, and the red enamel crest upon his helm with its three roaring heads. The Young Prince. Gods be good, is it truly him?" — The Hedge Knight
"In the songs, they were called the black knights of the Wall" - Sansa III, AGOT
"Jon was armored in black ice. . ." — Jon XIII, ADWD
Valarr is a dark-haired Targaryen prince. Him and Baelor do not look Targaryen, since they take after the maternal line.
Jon is a dark-haired Targaryen prince, with the same hair colour, who does not look Targaryen, since he takes after the maternal line (Stark).
"He [Baelor] does not look a Targaryen in truth, with that dark hair."
"It is said he favors his mother."
"The Young Prince had his father’s light brown hair, but a streak of silver-gold ran through it." — The Hedge Knight
Valarr's father, Baelor, shares parallels with Jon's father, Rhaegar.
✧ Other character parallels
BAELOR TARGARYEN / RHAEGAR TARGARYEN
Baelor is the father to Valarr, named for Baelor the Blessed
Rhaegar is the father to Jon, "Baelor the Blessed born again"
"Daeron bore the same name as the Young Dragon, but when his Dornish wife gave him a son he named the child Baelor, after the feeblest king who ever sat the Iron Throne." — The Sworn Sword
"The maesters were awed by his wits, but his father’s knights would jest sourly that Baelor the Blessed had been born again. Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him." — Daenerys I, ASOS
Baelor donned all-black armor with only a red Targaryen sigil and dragon detailing where he was dealt the final blow by his relative in battle.. which which in turn led to the killer eventually becoming King.
Rhaegar donned all-black armor with only a red Targaryen sigil and dragon detailing where he was dealt the final blow by his relative in battle.. which in turn led to the killer eventually becoming King.
Baelor and Rhaegar are also both noted to ride a black stallion to match their armor.
"A black stallion emerged from out of the river mists, a black knight on his back. Dunk saw the dragon shield, and the red enamel crest upon his helm with its three roaring heads." — The Hedge Knight
"And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor." - Daenerys IX, AGOT
"...the Targaryen prince armored all in black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the sunlight." — Eddard I, AGOT
"Prince Baelor. The scarlet dragon on his helm had lost a head, both wings, and most of its tail. [...] "It’s crushed down at the back, Your Grace, toward the left side. Smashed into the gorget."
“Brother’s mace, most like,” Baelor said thickly. “He’s strong.”
- The Hedge Knight
"The waters of the Trident ran red around the hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert’s hammer stove in the dragon and the chest beneath it." — Eddard I, AGOT
SER DUNCAN THE TALL / BRIENNE OF TARTH
Important note: Brienne is the only confirmed descendant of Duncan the Tall, personally by the author [2016], and the author himself also confirmed that she will be knighted [2025].
Ser Duncan: The tourney at Ashford was narrated (and, ultimately, interrupted), by Dunk, after he protected a young woman.
Brienne: As Sansa is held in the Vale & preparing for their tourney, Brienne sets out to search for her in order to become her protector.
Dunk is an unlikely knight, Kingsguard to Aegon V. He carried a shield with a green shooting star above an elm tree.
Brienne is an unlikely knight, Kingsguard to Renly. During her search for Sansa, she has her shield repainted as a homage to Dunk's, as she had seen it in her childhood.
“Yes,” Dunk said. “That would serve. An elm tree…but with a shooting star above. Could you do that?” The girl nodded. “Give me the shield.” — The Hedge Knight
“It was more a picture than a proper coat of arms, and the sight of it took her back through the long years, to the cool dark of her father's armory. She remembered how she'd run her fingertips across the cracked and fading paint, over the green leaves of the tree, and along the path of the falling star.” — Brienne II, AFFC
Dunk introduces & portrays the "true knight" theme, which is fundamental to both Sansa's and Brienne's arcs.
"Heartsick, Dunk wheeled Thunder and raced back and forth before the tiers of pale, cold men. Despair made him shout. “ARE THERE NO TRUE KNIGHTS AMONG YOU?” - The Hedge Knight
“You are a good man, Ser Duncan. A brave knight, and true.”
"A true knight, Ser Duncan. A true knight." Dunk was turning red."
— The Sworn Sword
“My thanks, m’lord. You’re a true knight, it’s plain to see" [...] A true knight, she thought, frowning." — Brienne III, AFFC
“There are gods, she told herself, and there are true knights too. All the stories can't be lies.” — Sansa IV, ACOK
"Help me, she prayed, send me a friend, a true knight to champion me. . . She moved from tree to tree" — Sansa II, ACOK
"Then the trees closed in around her, black as pitch and full of ghosts and memories. I am coming for you, Lady Sansa, she thought as she rode into the darkness. Be not afraid. I shall not rest until I’ve found you." - Brienne I, AFFC
"And for me, thought Brienne, a prayer for me as well. Ask the Crone to raise her lamp and lead me to the Lady Sansa, and the Warrior to give strength to my arm so that I might defend her."
— Brienne V, AFFC
TANSELLE TOO-TALL
Ser Duncan meets the woman he steps in to protect at Ashford, as she is telling us the story of Florian the Fool and Jonquil:
"This morning the puppeteers were doing the tale of Florian and Jonquil. [...] the tall girl held Jonquil’s strings. “You are no knight,” she was saying as the puppet’s mouth moved up and down. “I know you. You are Florian the Fool.”
“I am, my lady,” the other puppet answered, kneeling. “As great a fool as ever lived, and as great a knight as well.”
“A fool and a knight?” said Jonquil. “I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Sweet lady,” said Florian, “all men are fools, and all men are knights, where women are concerned.” — The Hedge Knight
The story is both Sansa's favourite, and the most prominent in her arc. Tanselle's narration & play as Jonquil [1998] comes in the same year as Sansa being nicknamed "Jonquil" after the tale [1998] :
“Florian,” Sansa whispered. A shiver went through her.
“Sweet lady, I would be your Florian,” Dontos said humbly, falling to his knees before her."
"My Florian,” she whispered. “The gods heard my prayer.” [...] "he’ll keep me safe, my Florian. The songs about Florian and Jonquil were her very favorites." — Sansa II, ACOK
“Sweet Jonquil, I’ve come. Your Florian has come, don’t be afraid.” — Sansa V, ASOS
[ note how similar the wording is in comparison to Brienne, and the way she speaks of finding & taking Sansa home ]
Tanselle even teasingly plays at quoting back Florian the Fool's words at Ser Duncan himself:
“I don’t…I’m not certain.” His ears were turning red, he realized miserably. “You must think me an utter fool.”
She smiled. “All men are fools, and all men are knights.” — The Hedge Knight
& Brienne is among the people that recalls Florian, too. This comes as she thinks of protecting Sansa:
"It was a sword fit for a hero. When she was small, her nurse had filled her ears with tales of valor, regaling her with the noble exploits of Ser Galladon of Morne, Florian the Fool... [...]
“You’ll be defending Ned Stark’s daughter with Ned Stark’s own steel." — Brienne I, AFFC
Sansa & Tanselle also share a tie through Aerion being linked to Joffrey's abuse, both directly and indirectly:
"Joffrey himself was waiting for her on the steps of the castle sept. The king was resplendent in crimson and gold, his crown on his head."
"Her heart lurched. “Please, Your Grace,” she begged." — Sansa III, ASOS
"In the midst of it all stood Prince Aerion, resplendent in a red velvet doublet with long, dagged sleeves, twisting Tanselle’s arm in both hands.
"She was on her knees, pleading with him." — The Hedge Knight
"Aerion’s quite the monster. He thinks he’s a dragon in human form, you know. That’s why he was so wroth at that puppet show." - The Hedge Knight
"Aerion Brightfire was comely enough, but a monster all the same. The question is, what is Joffrey?" — Sansa I, ASOS
✧ Note that GRRM states the tourney & Trial at Ashford and the surrounding events [particularly Baelor's fate] are the event that changed Westeros' history, and hold great significance to him:
"in a 2022 interview promoting the first season of "HOTD", George R.R. Martin was asked which minor event changed the course of Westeros' history.
His answer was: the climax of "The Hedge Knight" — Source
✧ Other reading & compliments:
There is a wonderful meta on Valarr's hair being a homage to Simon Snowlock, as well as a deeper dive into Valarr / Jon by @butterflies-dragons
GRRM on Brienne/Dunk being confirmed relatives and parallels [ 1 / 2 ]
Big thank you to the theorists, metawriters, wikiwriters and artists that contributed to the information and visuals compiled in this post.
✧ Art credits:
Lyonel Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Duncan the Tall: Amok
Leo Tyrell: The Marky Gallery
Willas Tyrell: Mikey Booch
Tybolt Lannister: Coogargore
Tyrion Lannister: Jonathan Wesslund
Humfrey Hardyng: Even Amundsen
Harry Hardyng: Chillyravenart
Valarr Targaryen: Debustee
Jon Snow: EtceteraArt
Rhaegar Targaryen: Michael Komarck
Brienne of Tarth: Bella Bergolts
Rhaegar & Robert: Michael Komarck
Sansa at the Hand’s Tourney: Jonathan Burton
Dunk at the Trial: Mike S. Miller
Alright this is honestly quite scary for me to say because these stans for this ship and character(s) scare me but it needs said.
Lyanna x Rhaegar isn't romantic in any sense. And it is either Lyanna is a victim or a hypocrite.
Let me explain, we only have two clear options for this relationship. Either Lyanna was kidnapped and raped by Rhaegar or she chose to be with Rhaegar. And let me explain how both are bad and how the second makes her a hypocrite.
Option one: Lyanna was kidnapped and raped. In no sense is this romantic or even something ti brush off. If this happened I have full sympathy for Lyanna and hate Rhaegar more than I already did. If someone does see this as romantic you need to go to therapy.
Option two: Lyanna persued Rhaegar as well. Now many would use the excuse that if she didn't she would be in a marriage with a man who cheated on her frequently. But what kost forget is that if Lyanna did persue Rhaegar in turn she had only bestowed the same fate upon another women. Elia. Which royally ruins her whole "girls girl" persona so many of her stans have given her. Lyanna doing that wasn't her being in love, and even if she did that isn't ok for her to do.
So yeah Lyanna was either a victim or a hypocrite and either way Lyanna x Rhaegar isn't a ship I nor anyone else should find romantic.
Hate when people deny lyanna/sansa having any parallels like oh sorry man i must have been thinking about some other aunt of sansa’s that fell for the twink crown prince who turned out not what she expected whose family killed her father and oldest brother who was then held basically captive
Also sorry lyanna crying at rhaegar playing the harp is totally sansa coded
blue for commentary, red for 👀, purple just means i’m vibing
SANSA STARK I
Eddard Stark left before the dawn
the first words from sansa’s pov are “eddard stark” ned-sansa ism remains ELITE it remains CANON
but also ned leaving before the dawn
Sansa did not really know Joffrey yet, but she was already in love with him.
i don’t wanna talk about it
They had been twelve days crossing the Neck, rumbling down a crooked causeway through an endless black bog, and she had hated every moment of it. The air had been damp and clammy, the causeway so narrow they could not even make proper camp at night, they had to stop right on the kingsroad. Dense thickets of half-drowned trees pressed close around them, branches dripping with curtains of pale fungus. Huge flowers bloomed in the mud and floated on pools of stagnant water, but if you were stupid enough to leave the causeway to pluck them, there were quicksands waiting to suck you down, and snakes watching from the trees, and lizard-lions floating half-submerged in the water, like black logs with eyes and teeth.
this is so much cooler than what we got in the show. i get they were really strapped for money in s1 idc the swamp is more fun
there’s a pretty immediate association from sansa’s pov of arya with the colors brown & green. genuinely it jumped out at me. name dropping my chart here.
Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers.
she’s so jealous that arya isn’t her best friend it’s so cute to me
She turned to walk off, but Arya shouted after her, “They won’t let you bring Lady either.”
it’s fun we get parallel jon-arya catelyn-sansa moments where the girls wonder if arya is a bastard bc she looks like jon
One knight wore an intricate suit of white enameled scales, brilliant as a field of new-fallen snow, with silver chasings and clasps that glittered in the sun.
very targaryen loyalist of grandpa barri here
also sick fit
“You are shaking, girl,” he said, his voice rasping. “Do I frighten you so much?”
okay let’s not get a big head here it was ilyn she was frightened of, you just creeped up behind her sandor
until Ser Ilyn Payne shouldered two men aside, and stood before her, unsmiling. He did not say a word…
As the headsman looked at her, his pale colorless eyes seemed to strip the clothes away from her, and then the skin, leaving her soul naked before him. Still silent, he turned and walked away.
she is surrounded by men who are thrilled by the idea of scaring her
That was where my father killed Rhaegar Targaryen, you know. He smashed in his chest, crunch, right through the armor.
i got horny reading this
the thing about the trident fight. is it is literally completely joffrey’s fault lmao. what else was any of the three of them supposed to do 😭
Nedward Stark III
The room was crowded when he burst in. Too crowded, he thought; left alone, he and Robert might have been able to settle the matter amicably.
yeah it sucks that he’s not wrong here
“Perchance later you’ll tell me how a nine-year-old girl the size of a wet rat managed to disarm you with a broom handle and throw your sword in the river.” As the door swung shut behind him, Ned heard him say, “Lion’s Tooth,” and guffaw once more.
arya rat stuff
but also this is the moment renly decides he’s gonna be king i just know it lmfao
i actually should revisit the “ned takes the girls & fucks back off to winterfell after the trident fight” because it’s crazy that robert immediately goes “yeah sure kill sansa’s totally innocent direwolf” he doesn’t even hesitate. it’s the symbol of their HOUSE dude it’s her PET 😭😭
BRAN STARK III
“But I never fall,” he said, falling.
FINALLY the shit i’m here for
At the heart of the godswood, the great white weirwood brooded over its reflection in the black pool, its leaves rustling in a chill wind. When it felt Bran watching, it lifted its eyes from the still waters and stared back at him knowingly.
this is brynden once again my charts!!!!!
One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.
Clearly this is Sandor & Jaime. I’m assuming the third is Gregor even tho we haven’t met him yet bc it’s a very robert strong image!!!!
(the only other option would be ilyn here)
i’m skipping ahead here but interesting how both bran & dany’s first “fly or die” moment involves wings essentially ripping from behind them. with dany, the wings themselves cause pain and then she gets lost in the stars. with bran, there’s a moment of triumph and then the pain of his third eye brings him crashing back to reality.
A pair of yellow eyes looked into his own, shining like the sun.
the black hole imagery of a crow pecking at a circle between his eyes bleeding into the sun…..BRAN SUN KING CONFIRMED
Bran looked up calmly. “His name is Summer,” he said.
CATELYN STARK IV
Visenya’s hill was crowned by the Great Sept of Baelor with its seven crystal towers.
And above it all, frowning down from Aegon’s high hill, was the Red Keep…
oh i’m sure
When they ushered her inside, he set down his pen and looked at her. “Cat,” he said quietly.
I’LL KILL YOU
it is funny that she walks in and just expects not to be recognized.
He had been a sly child, but after his mischiefs he always looked contrite; it was a gift he had.
the robb/theon parallelism is crazy, the way she and ned are not self aware at all lol
His flesh was soft and moist, and his breath smelled of lilacs.
idk varys just cracks me up
JON SNOW III
Castle Black had no godswood, only a small sept and a drunken septon
wait that’s crazy now that i think about it, not having a godswood within the grounds of castle black
Cotter Pyke is the baseborn son of a tavern wench. Now he commands Eastwatch by the Sea.
MY GOAT
They said it was Donal Noye who’d forged King Robert’s warhammer, the one that crushed the life from Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident.
“You leave them nothing. You shame them. Does that make you proud?”
Centuries of windblown dirt had pocked and scoured it, covering it like a film, and it often seemed a pale grey, the color of an overcast sky … but when the sun caught it fair on a bright day, it shone, alive with light, a colossal blue-white cliff that filled up half the sky.
He looked at the words, but they didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Bran was going to live. “My brother is going to live,” he told Mormont. The Lord Commander shook his head, gathered up a fistful of corn, and whistled. The raven flew to his shoulder, crying, “Live! Live!”
he’s such a sweet boy 😭
the amount of men who get deathly angry when they’re laughed at
NEDUARDO STARK IV
“You are growing old and slow, Stark,” he said.
alright you’re testing my patience
“Your wife is inside,” Littlefinger said. It was the final insult. “Brandon was too kind to you,” Ned said as he slammed the small man back against a wall and shoved his dagger up under the little pointed chin beard.
i know that made him cry
“Then how? Why are you here, my love?“
oh wow
What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa’s, and for what? Was it guilt he was feeling? Or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done?
no one has ever been more doomed than ned
jon sees all
“was it guilt he was feeling? or fear?” god he’s so fucked
Yet even as he said the words, he remembered that chill morning on the barrowlands, and Robert’s talk of sending hired knives after the Targaryen princess. He remembered Rhaegar’s infant son, the red ruin of his skull, and the way the king had turned away, as he had turned away in Darry’s audience hall not so long ago. He could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once.
oh ned
okay i got too sleepy to read tyrion’s chapter before midnight & he didn’t deserve that 100% FOCUS ONLY
TYRION LANNISTER III
the thing that’s interesting is that jeor compliments tyrion, & tyrion deflects with a joke (“i’ll send you every dwarf in the kingdoms to man the wall then” which is a really good joke!) but the mere IDEA of alliser being compared to a dwarf has him trying to fight tyrion. and meanwhile tyrion genuinely develops a fondness for the watch! he’s the only actual ally they have in the south and thorne wants to piss it away bc he doesn’t like being compared to tyrion.
there is something moving about blind old aemon calling tyrion a giant. your life does not end with a disability. you learn to live your life hand in hand with it. aemon did, tyrion did.
something i love about tyrion. is how he sees jeor needs his life to have meant something. and agrees to help send men to the wall. and when he is in power he DOES in fact attempt to help with this. he sends men to the wall CONSTANTLY in acok. he doesn’t really believe in anything they believe in but he liked jeor & he liked jon & he understands being given a dumb task and being told “this is your life now” (see: his commitment to the sewage system in casterly rock).
i also love how easy it is to like tyrion for so many people. if tyrion had been treated like willas, which is to say as the heir, he would have been as good an heir as anyone. he’s SO charming to EVERYONE but tywin (and cersei). he’s SO hard not to like. in fact a lot of readers only start to get turned off when he’s going thru it & stressed out & we are in his head - it takes a LOT to make him unpleasant. it isn’t to say he isn’t capable of it (im thinking his reaction to masha’s murder which is INCREDIBLY bloodthirstily classist & misogynistic & o appropriate) but he’s decadently better than a lot of people around him. i just get very emo esp as someone with my own daddy issues it’s like why couldn’t you just love your smart caring compassionate son tywin? why couldn’t you just love him?
Thorne had never even shown him the proper way to grip a sword.
that’s wild, the fact that jeor just lets them get away with this behavior is at least 30% of the reason why jon has such a hard time getting these guys to do what he wants. jeor just lets them actively shirk their duties!
them being friends IS coming back and i HOPE it’s in a painful and negative way
FINAL THOTS
Bran needs more chapters im tired of reading about these other broke bitches
